What percentage of the workshops at your homeschool convention are education-related?

[razorbackmama]

By "education-related" I mean workshops on learning styles, high school, college, learning difficulties, how to homeschool with toddlers in the house, how to teach reading, laws, etc.

 

"Not education-related" are things like how to be a godly wife, child training, leading your family in devotions, entrepreneurship, worldview, how to encourage your children to be passionate about missions, etc.

 

Just curious.

[OnTheBrink]

My biggest gripe about home school conferences is that there aren't enough academic workshops and there are too many "churchy" ones. IMO, if I want to learn more about discipleship, worship, making memories, etc. I'll seek out my own church's resources. I can always find a lot of support for those things there. I want workshops on the academics, learning, prepping for high school, etc. That support is harder to come by. Family singing? Family worship? Family journaling? No thanks.

 

OH, since I'm now on this roll, I noticed that the conference I'm attending in June has a vendor selling...Juice Plus! WTHeck? I tell you, next year I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER! *stomping foot!*

[laughing lioness]

:iagree:

 

17 out of 25 workshops, incuding all of the keynote addresses are about topics other than education, unless you are defining education very loosely (topics are about parenting, modesty, organization, burn-out, courtship, media, family reformation, foolishness, etc).

It is the pedantic fundamentalism of the wider homeschooling community that causes us to cringe when people identify us as "homeschoolers" because all sorts of negative opinons are formed and attributed: we stay in our p.j.s all day, the kids do whatever they want, we shoot abortionists, we are judgemental and prideful and backward and stoopid.

We are a conservative family but the legalism bites.

[Renee in NC]

:iagree:

 

17 out of 25 workshops, incuding all of the keynote addresses are about topics other than education, unless you are defining education very loosely (topics are about parenting, modesty, organization, burn-out, courtship, media, family reformation, foolishness, etc).

It is the pedantic fundamentalism of the wider homeschooling community that causes us to cringe when people identify us as "homeschoolers" because all sorts of negative opinons are formed and attributed: we stay in our p.j.s all day, the kids do whatever they want, we shoot abortionists, we are judgemental and prideful and backward and stoopid.

We are a conservative family but the legalism bites.

 

:iagree:

 

I have never been to a conference. I might go to FL's, but I am waiting to see the workshops to see if it is worth it.

[razorbackmama]

 

17 out of 25 workshops, incuding all of the keynote addresses are about topics other than education, unless you are defining education very loosely (topics are about parenting, modesty, organization, burn-out, courtship, media, family reformation, foolishness, etc).

 

Organization and burn-out could POSSIBLY fall under education, IMO, but the rest is exactly what I'm talking about.:banghead:

 

We too are very conservative, but I'm there for education, not for the other stuff!!!

[razorbackmama]

So other than the WTM conference, *do* any primarily educational conferences exist? Or will my comment on my survey this year be an idle threat? (I intend to tell them that if there are fewer than 75% workshops on education, I will attend another conference rather than this one.)

[laughing lioness]

:iagree:Me too! SD is a bit far. Feeling like a lonely island this year.

[razorbackmama]

Yep. I'm thinking I may just have to include airfare in my homeschool budget for next year.:tongue_smilie:

[Heather in WI]

I am not kidding. This is the keynote line-up for the convention in our state:

 

 

Keynote #1- Family Harmony

 

Keynote #2– Keeping our Children’s Hearts

 

Keynote #3– The New World Order and How Should We Then Live??

 

Final Keynote— Building a Vision

 

 

The workshops themselves seem to be a 80%/20% mix of (very conservative, fundamentalist) Christian to academic workshops presented by vendors.

 

We are a conservative Christian family, but this is NOT what I want in a homeschooling convention.

[razorbackmama]

I am not kidding. This is the keynote line-up for the convention in our state:

 

 

Keynote #1- Family Harmony

 

Keynote #2– Keeping our Children’s Hearts

 

Keynote #3– The New World Order and How Should We Then Live??

 

Final Keynote— Building a Vision

The workshops themselves seem to be a 80%/20% mix of (very conservative, fundamentalist) Christian to academic workshops presented by vendors.

 

We are a conservative Christian family, but this is NOT what I want in a homeschooling convention.

 

:banghead:

 

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of the word "vision" also!!!!!!!

[tristangrace]

By my reckoning (and some of these are soft calls), 58 of 98 sessions of the ICHE (Illinois Christian Home Education) conference are "off-topic." I realize there is some value in what I call RAH-RAH sessions--sessions that seem to focus exclusively on "ain't homeschooling great?! we're so glad we're homeschooling!!!" sentiments, but there seem to be a ton of those. Also a large chunk of "down with evolution" sessions.

 

I was planning on going to the next conference within shouting distance of my home (I've never been to one yet), but after I got the brochure, I changed my mind. Just not enough substance to be worth the price. Of the 40 sessions that are actually about education, about half are devoted to preschoolers, high schoolers, special needs kids, or VERY specific science/math labs.

 

The price of the conference seems quite reasonable, but it's still not worth it. There are about four sessions that sound like they might be interesting to me, but they are spread out over the three days, so that's $120 AND three days of childcare for four hours of a conference which may or may not live up to my hopes. I know I'd love looking at the curriculum booths, but not for the better part of three days . . . and I honestly don't really NEED to look for new curriculum!

[gracefulhome]

The Colorado state "homeschool" conference is NOT even called a "homeschool" conference anymore. I noticed this just last week when looking at a flyer. It is a "family" conference now. :glare:

 

I'm not planning to attend, even for the vendor hall. I'll buy online. I know many people who feel this same way.

 

I'd love to attend the WTM or a CM conference in the future.

 

Mary in CO

4 Blessings: ds12, dd10, ds8 and ds6

[G5052]

IMHO many of the issues now taught at homeschool conferences belong in the church, not in a para-church homeschool conference. Increasingly we stress discipleship in our home versus particular "Christian" practices anyway.

[razorbackmama]

The Colorado state "homeschool" conference is NOT even called a "homeschool" conference anymore. I noticed this just last week when looking at a flyer. It is a "family" conference now. :glare:

 

Yup, I think I noticed that last year or the year before. Ir. ri. tating.

[Ann@thebeach]

My biggest gripe about home school conferences is that there aren't enough academic workshops and there are too many "churchy" ones. IMO, if I want to learn more about discipleship, worship, making memories, etc. I'll seek out my own church's resources. I can always find a lot of support for those things there. I want workshops on the academics, learning, prepping for high school, etc. That support is harder to come by. Family singing? Family worship? Family journaling? No thanks.

 

OH, since I'm now on this roll, I noticed that the conference I'm attending in June has a vendor selling...Juice Plus! WTHeck? I tell you, next year I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER! *stomping foot!*

 

Yes to this!

[violinmom]

My biggest complaint about our AZ convention as well. I know that every single year a bunch of comment on about this on our evaluation form, but I guess we are in the minority.

[lollie010]

My sister and I fuss about this every year. It is like a political rally. We usually just hang out at the vendor hall.

[ABQmom]

How can we make our voices heard? Our convention does have a survey to fill out at the end. I can make suggestions there I suppose. Another way is to actually get involved in helping plan and carry out the conventions, but I don't have time to do that right now when in the thick of teaching 4 dc.

[Mom22ns]

Ok, you made me look.

It looks like there are 34 sessions including the keynote (by SWB). Twenty-three of those sessions are homeschool topics. At each session time there are two homeschool topics and one non-homeschool topic. Non-homeschool topics include "Hard Times Homeschooling", "Total Mama Makeover", "Creation vs Evolution" (Dr. Jay Wile). Obviously, some are religious content, some are family oriented, some are personal improvement. Some are borderline on still being homeschool topics like "Welcome to Womanhood" which is a session for moms of girls ages 10-14.

 

This is at a convention put on by a Christian group. I am surprised to hear that we have MORE homeschool content and LESS religious content than most conventions.

 

ETA: I didn't count vendor presentations. There are 26 sessions done by vendors in addition to the ones listed above. All of those are homeschool topics, but those from Christian vendors may contain heavy Christian content.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Momto2Ns

[skueppers]

Wow. I'm planning to attend the Northern Virginia Home Education Conference this year, and it looks like about 85% of the sessions are education-related. Most of them aren't even vendor presentations.

 

It's possible that I might have miscategorized a couple of sessions, but even if it's only 75%, that seems a lot better than what most conferences have available!

[TechWife]

There are 91 seminars (not counting key note speeches or vendor workshops). 42% are on topic, 58% are off topic.

 

Here's how I broke it down:

*Getting Started Homeschooling: 4

*General Encouragement: 8

*How to teach.../How...Learns/Learning Styles: 16

*Teaching Special Needs: 6

Home Econ. (Finances/Cooking/Nutrition/Org. Skills/Time Mgmt.): 13

Parenting: 20

Religion/Faith/Worldview: 13

Politics: 2

*Homeschooling High School/College Prep: 3

*General Homeschool Encouragement: 1

Business/Entrepreneurship: 2

Self Help: 3

 

*These are certainly on topic for a homeschool conference (38 seminars).

**Possibly on topic - some of these teach general skills on evaluating info. from a Christian perspective - definitely helpful for those who want to incorporate this into their school, but they are available through other routes. Others are workshops that put forth a particular world view that has nothing to with homeschooling.

 

If I include worldview as off topic (because the information is available in the general Christian community, not only at a homeschool convention), there are 53 off topic seminars.

 

Of the vendor workshops, 28 of them are actually selling something that directly relates to homeschooling. There are 12 vendor workshops for parenting and worldview materials.

 

The 38 seminars will be more than enough to keep me busy - I see around ten of them that are directly related to something I need to learn about.

 

Looking forward to it!

Edited April 21, 2010 by TechWife

[Liza Q]

I am planning to go to Enoch in NJ this year. I counted up the workshops/sessions - 37.

 

12 are education related - cognitive development, transcripts, writing, teaching preschoolers, dealing with struggling learners, etc.

 

25 are "other" - how to start your own business, building character, leadership 101, purity, family Bible time, etc.

 

I go to maybe one workshop at any convention and I have been many over the years in NY, NJ and PA. Well, once I went to a convention just to hear SWB and another time I went to hear her mother, Jessie. Those sessions really were worth it!

[ladydusk]

I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER!

 

Don't get me wrong, I love the Cincinnati convention (have been there the last 3 years), but there are a sufficiency of non-academic, non-homeschool sessions ... that being said, I can always find something worthwhile to listen to (and give up sessions to go shopping!)

[angela in ohio]

OH, since I'm now on this roll, I noticed that the conference I'm attending in June has a vendor selling...Juice Plus! WTHeck? I tell you, next year I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER! *stomping foot!*

 

Cincinnati had its share of non-homeschool junk in the vendor hall this year. :glare:

[OnTheBrink]

:banghead:

 

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sick of the word "vision" also!!!!!!!

 

PREACH. IT. SISTAH!:iagree:

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

My biggest gripe about home school conferences is that there aren't enough academic workshops and there are too many "churchy" ones. IMO, if I want to learn more about discipleship, worship, making memories, etc. I'll seek out my own church's resources. I can always find a lot of support for those things there. I want workshops on the academics, learning, prepping for high school, etc. That support is harder to come by. Family singing? Family worship? Family journaling? No thanks.

 

OH, since I'm now on this roll, I noticed that the conference I'm attending in June has a vendor selling...Juice Plus! WTHeck? I tell you, next year I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER! *stomping foot!*

 

 

I am so with you!! :iagree::iagree:

I even have family in cincinnati, I am definitely there next year!

We have Juice Plus at our convention this May. Also on the vendor List are: a wheat supply company, a clothing boutique, homemade soaps, Aflac, hairbows, etiquette, football, jewels, medical transcription, carvings, tandy leather factory, and a nutritional drink company.

[Daisy]

Well, you all hit the nail on the head. I don't go to conventions and this is one of the big reasons. I'll keep my money, thank you very much, and buy MORE books.

[ElizabethB]

For those of you who don't read the general board, I'm starting up a thread for people to list their favorite educational mp3s and best places to buy educational mp3s.

[Ellie]

The CHEA conventions in Calif are mostly education-related. I've not been impressed with what happens here in Central Texas. Looks to me as if most of the workshop presenters are authors of something or other and they talk about their...thing, whatever that is...and they are also vendors. Even if their workshops are not about their product specifically, their booths are packed with people buying their product, such that similar products aren't represented at all because their owners/whoever know that no one will buy anything 'cuz they're buying the *other* stuff (e.g., the year TOG was there, KONOS was not).

 

And the same workshops are presented both days.:confused:

[monalisa]

OH, since I'm now on this roll, I noticed that the conference I'm attending in June has a vendor selling...Juice Plus! WTHeck? I tell you, next year I AM ATTENDING THE CINCINNATI CONVENTION, COME HECK OR HIGH WATER! *stomping foot!*

 

Just so you know, the Cincy Convention had Juice Plus there too! And there were plenty of non-education workshops!

[kalanamak]

Here is ours:

 

 

http://www.washhomeschool.org/convention/convention.html

 

SWB was there two years ago and the lectures she gave were jammed with people sitting on the floor. Ditto the IEW lectures. I think we all ought to write to the convention-throwers and tell them our wants. The squeaky wheel, after all.

[phathui5]

It looks like about 1/3 of the sessions at the Upstate NY LEAH conference are about education. I probably won't bother going.

[OnTheBrink]

Just so you know, the Cincy Convention had Juice Plus there too! And there were plenty of non-education workshops!

 

What is up with the JuicePlus people going to hs conferences? Is it a MLM trying to recruit?

 

And, I saw the workshop list for Cincy; at least there were enough academic workshops that I could have filled my time with things I wanted to hear/see and not try to fill the time with workshops that might have been interesting, since there was nothing else to go to, kwim?

[Heather in VA]

This is why if I do go to a convention I only shop. This year I'm going to the Veritas Press Open House. They are having a few seminars that are all educational and shopping.

 

Heather

[missmoe]

SWB blogged about this subject not to long ago. It was quite interesting as were the comments. There is now a sub-forum under the networking forums for homeschoolers to list what kind of classes they themselves are qualified to teach and where they could teach them. The idea is for us as homeschoolers to put together smaller conferences with meaningful topics. Therefore doing an end-run around the juice guy and the religous workshops we don't want.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

By "education-related" I mean workshops on learning styles, high school, college, learning difficulties, how to homeschool with toddlers in the house, how to teach reading, laws, etc.

 

"Not education-related" are things like how to be a godly wife, child training, leading your family in devotions, entrepreneurship, worldview, how to encourage your children to be passionate about missions, etc.

 

Just curious.

 

We had a lovely little curriculum day last month. Big party room with about a half dozen tables. Several families brought books to show off. People tended to bring things that they really liked or that they knew were unusual and that people might want to flip through. There were also a couple families who were selling things.

 

We did a panel discussion in the morning with four moms, who were established homeschoolers (2 for a couple years, 2 for 10+ with kids in college) ranging from Sonlight to eclectic to Robinson to unschooling. I moderated and had several questions for the panel, plus they took questions from the floor.

 

It was a great time, with a chance to see some things that I hadn't seen before (I ordered a few and knew that a few wouldn't work for us) plus about four hours of chatting homeschool methods and issues with other people who cared and had been there done that.

 

If we can put something like this together, living on a military base overseas with about a twenty families participating then there are alternatives to the giant convention that can still be worthwhile and refreshing.

 

FWIW, I have a funny story about how my mom was converted into a homeschool supporter in an indirect way because a chiropractor was at a curriculum faire. So I try to be tolerant of vendors who aren't directly related to homeschooling. On the other hand, I once offered to do a workshop about service academies and the admission process aimed at homeschoolers and was turned down in part because the limited workshop space was prioritized to speakers and vendors.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Sebastian (a lady)
Juice guy probably is flakey

[Aunty Social]

Didnt' read all the responses, but this is why I don't go to conferences - or for that matter, belong to a homeschool group. I went one year, solely because SWB was speaking and I was curious about the vendor hall. SWB was well worth it, the vendor hall was disappointing, and the rest of the workshops pretty much worthless. The boards are my conference. Pretty much anything I want to learn, I can learn here - and discover lots of cool new stuff too:D.

 

I want to learn about education at a conference...not how to run my family and how to "be a good Christian". I'm happy with my family and my faith, and if I wasn't, I certainly wouldn't address it as a part of school.

[Teresa in MO]

Okay, in defense of the people who run and set up the homeschool conferences, there are a few things that you are probably not aware of. ( I help run one of these conferences.) If I was not helping with the convention, I would only be attending the vendor hall, but I am just not a person to sit in workshops.

 

1. Homeschool conferences, especially those in convention centers, are very expensive to put on.

 

2. It is the vendors fee that pays for the conferences. This is just a fact. You have to fill the vendor hall. Each year there are numerous homeschool vendors, especially smaller ones, that are going out of business. There are also a number of homeschool vendors, again mostly smaller ones, that in this economy have either stopped or severly limited the number of conferences they attend. Vendors tell us all the time that is their online sales that keeps them in business. So this is why there are vendors such as Juice Plus.

 

3. I agree as far as homeschool topics. I try and push for homeschool topics at our conference, but I am not always successful. The setting up of the speakers or workshops is not my responsibility. But, if you ever look on websites of homeschool speakers, even one you would definitely call academic, you will see that most speakers offer both academic and motivational. One that comes to mind is Steve Demme of MUS. He offers about a dozen different workshops. Of those, only 2 or 3 have anything to do with Math. The rest are motivational. (these numbers are coming from memory, might not be exact, but very close)

 

There are a few things you can do:

 

1. Keep filling out the evaluation forms. This is important. This is the only way to get your opinions across. But you need to know that there is a large group of people that like the motivational speakers.

 

2. We try to encourage our attendees to buy at the conference. This is so very, very important. It is the sales at the conference that keeps the vendors coming back.

 

Okay, that's all. Just thought you might want a different perspective. I do agree with numerous of your points, but sometimes there are factors that you just are not aware of. As far as holding smaller conferences, the problem there is vendors want numbers. Especially in this economy, they pick and chose what conferences they attend by the number of people attending.

Hope this helps you see a different side.

[laughing lioness]

I've helped put together conferences, too and I totally understand about the vendors paying for the conference. The problem is, here, we have very few actual curriculum vendors show up. It's just too expensive for companies to ship thier stuff, pay for someone to watch their booth, for a couple hundred dollars in sales

And unless you can pay for a quality speaker, or assure a certain # of people, you are limited in choices for speakers.

I don't mind being motivated. I mind being preached at in this context.

[razorbackmama]

For those of you who don't read the general board, I'm starting up a thread for people to list their favorite educational mp3s and best places to buy educational mp3s.

 

Oooooh, so maybe I can avoid a convention altogether!

[Jennefer@SSA]

This past year I paid for our local conference and got ready to go...until the night before when I read over the list of workshops. Nothing spoke to me. Nothing. It was mostly the non-academic type stuff as well as tons of repeats from years past. Our particular conference is heavily geared towards newbies just starting out on their journey but almost nothing academic for homeschoolers further down the road.

 

Dh was already planning on watching the boys for the 2 days while I attended the conference so last minute I decided to create my own! I downloaded a few MP3's I had been wanting to listen to, read a few books that had been sitting on my bedside table, journaled, planned and had a ball.

 

I wanted to get out of the house so I would still have that dedicated and uninterrupted time. I wanted places with free Wi-Fi and places where I wouldn't have to tip. Day 1 I spent at Panera and Day 2 at Cafe Express. I even created time at my own "vendor hall" by allowing myself time to walk through Lakeshore Learning.

 

It was a wonderful two days and I plan on doing it again this year. I blogged about it here if anyone wants to see what I did and get a few ideas for creating your own conference.

 

And I did let my local conference know that I did not attend and why. Hopefully more voices will continue to speak up as well and change will happen.

[razorbackmama]

I've helped put together conferences, too and I totally understand about the vendors paying for the conference. The problem is, here, we have very few actual curriculum vendors show up. It's just too expensive for companies to ship thier stuff, pay for someone to watch their booth, for a couple hundred dollars in sales

And unless you can pay for a quality speaker, or assure a certain # of people, you are limited in choices for speakers.

I don't mind being motivated. I mind being preached at in this context.

:iagree:

 

Motivational talks don't bother me since they typically are homeschooling-related. "You can do this!" "No, homeschooled kids aren't freaks!" Etc. But yup, being preached at, or being told "this is how to be a proper parent, spouse, Christian, etc."...I do mind at a homeschool conference.

 

I don't really care about the vendors at all. We even have chiropractors at ours LOL. I actually like to see the local vendors that are at our conference because I like to do business with homeschoolers or at least people who have a clue that homeschooling is a legitimate form of education.

 

I did put this down as a gripe on my evaluation form last year. Last year 60% of the workshops were about non-homeschool topics. This year it's only 50%, so it's a step in the right direction, at least.:glare:

[elegantlion]

This past year I paid for our local conference and got ready to go...until the night before when I read over the list of workshops. Nothing spoke to me. Nothing. It was mostly the non-academic type stuff as well as tons of repeats from years past. Our particular conference is heavily geared towards newbies just starting out on their journey but almost nothing academic for homeschoolers further down the road.

 

Dh was already planning on watching the boys for the 2 days while I attended the conference so last minute I decided to create my own! I downloaded a few MP3's I had been wanting to listen to, read a few books that had been sitting on my bedside table, journaled, planned and had a ball.

 

I wanted to get out of the house so I would still have that dedicated and uninterrupted time. I wanted places with free Wi-Fi and places where I wouldn't have to tip. Day 1 I spent at Panera and Day 2 at Cafe Express. I even created time at my own "vendor hall" by allowing myself time to walk through Lakeshore Learning.

 

It was a wonderful two days and I plan on doing it again this year. I blogged about it here if anyone wants to see what I did and get a few ideas for creating your own conference.

 

And I did let my local conference know that I did not attend and why. Hopefully more voices will continue to speak up as well and change will happen.

 

Oh, that sounds wonderful!! I may plan my getaway this way. I wonder if dh would spring for a night at a hotel, just me, wi-fi, and box of books!

[razorbackmama]

This past year I paid for our local conference and got ready to go...until the night before when I read over the list of workshops. Nothing spoke to me. Nothing. It was mostly the non-academic type stuff as well as tons of repeats from years past. Our particular conference is heavily geared towards newbies just starting out on their journey but almost nothing academic for homeschoolers further down the road.

 

Dh was already planning on watching the boys for the 2 days while I attended the conference so last minute I decided to create my own! I downloaded a few MP3's I had been wanting to listen to, read a few books that had been sitting on my bedside table, journaled, planned and had a ball.

 

I wanted to get out of the house so I would still have that dedicated and uninterrupted time. I wanted places with free Wi-Fi and places where I wouldn't have to tip. Day 1 I spent at Panera and Day 2 at Cafe Express. I even created time at my own "vendor hall" by allowing myself time to walk through Lakeshore Learning.

 

It was a wonderful two days and I plan on doing it again this year. I blogged about it here if anyone wants to see what I did and get a few ideas for creating your own conference.

 

And I did let my local conference know that I did not attend and why. Hopefully more voices will continue to speak up as well and change will happen.

 

What a great idea!!!

[Capt_Uhura]

SWB blogged about this subject not to long ago. It was quite interesting as were the comments. There is now a sub-forum under the networking forums for homeschoolers to list what kind of classes they themselves are qualified to teach and where they could teach them. The idea is for us as homeschoolers to put together smaller conferences with meaningful topics. Therefore doing an end-run around the juice guy and the religous workshops we don't want.

 

Can you provide a link to the subforums? I'm at SWB's blog and I don't see anything about forums. :001_huh:

 

Capt_Uhura

[homeschooltoone]

Okay, in defense of the people who run and set up the homeschool conferences, there are a few things that you are probably not aware of. ( I help run one of these conferences.) If I was not helping with the convention, I would only be attending the vendor hall, but I am just not a person to sit in workshops.

 

1. Homeschool conferences, especially those in convention centers, are very expensive to put on.

 

2. It is the vendors fee that pays for the conferences. This is just a fact. You have to fill the vendor hall. Each year there are numerous homeschool vendors, especially smaller ones, that are going out of business. There are also a number of homeschool vendors, again mostly smaller ones, that in this economy have either stopped or severly limited the number of conferences they attend. Vendors tell us all the time that is their online sales that keeps them in business. So this is why there are vendors such as Juice Plus.

 

3. I agree as far as homeschool topics. I try and push for homeschool topics at our conference, but I am not always successful. The setting up of the speakers or workshops is not my responsibility. But, if you ever look on websites of homeschool speakers, even one you would definitely call academic, you will see that most speakers offer both academic and motivational. One that comes to mind is Steve Demme of MUS. He offers about a dozen different workshops. Of those, only 2 or 3 have anything to do with Math. The rest are motivational. (these numbers are coming from memory, might not be exact, but very close)

 

There are a few things you can do:

 

1. Keep filling out the evaluation forms. This is important. This is the only way to get your opinions across. But you need to know that there is a large group of people that like the motivational speakers.

 

2. We try to encourage our attendees to buy at the conference. This is so very, very important. It is the sales at the conference that keeps the vendors coming back.

 

Okay, that's all. Just thought you might want a different perspective. I do agree with numerous of your points, but sometimes there are factors that you just are not aware of. As far as holding smaller conferences, the problem there is vendors want numbers. Especially in this economy, they pick and chose what conferences they attend by the number of people attending.

Hope this helps you see a different side.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Heather in WI]

Can you provide a link to the subforums?

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18

[Sahamamama]

I realize there is some value in what I call RAH-RAH sessions--sessions that seem to focus exclusively on "ain't homeschooling great?! we're so glad we're homeschooling!!!" sentiments, but there seem to be a ton of those.

 

Probably because the RAH-RAH workshops and lectures are easier to present than workshops on "this is how you teach your ________ level student to understand _____________."

 

IMO, inspirational speeches for the already-persuaded are like a multi-vitamin -- a nice supplement to keep you from getting run down in winter, but not the meat, potatoes & vegetables of everyday healthy eating. How-to-teach sessions get down to the nitty-gritty of content and method. Perhaps there's more preparation involved in -- and experience required for -- teaching these "meat & potatoes" courses.

 

In the kitchen, which is easier to prepare and serve? The "vitamins" from the Flintstones bottle or the vitamins from the garden? It's the same way with conventions -- knowing how to teach and then teaching how to teach is hard-ER work than saying RAH-RAH.

[Sahamamama]

The price of the conference seems quite reasonable, but it's still not worth it. There are about four sessions that sound like they might be interesting to me, but they are spread out over the three days.

 

So that's an idea for future conference planners -- if you do have academic workshops, should they be scheduled for the various levels on consecutive days? For example:

 

Day One -- Preschool (2-4/5 year olds) & Primary Level (K-2nd grades)

Day Two -- Grammar (3rd-5th) & Dialectic Levels (6th-8th)

Day Three -- High School (9th-College/Career Paths)

 

Good post, Tristangrace!

[Jami]

I think for those of us who want a more teacher-training, academic conference, we have to prepared to pay a bit more than many conferences cost. If you consider what the Veritas, ACCS, or Circe conferences cost (admission, not counting hotels), it's quite a bit more than the larger, vendor driven conferences. You're actually paying the speakers more directly for their time and expertise.

 

Jami